Vampire 吸血鬼 [Showa]

A hereditary abnormality passed down with each new born child from a family that descended from vampires. However, the gene seemed to have been beaten, as the foreigners moved to Japan, constructing a remote mansion in the countryside, and enjoyed several generations of normal children. Unfortunately, it was not to last. When the family's last son turned 25, he assaulted the women he loved, drawing blood from her neck with a pair of protruding fangs. The father, who understood what was happening, was powerless to stop him. He managed to save a small girl and her dog, which strayed into the mansion, but this action only brought down the wraith of his vengeful son, who drew his father's own blood next. In a weakened state, his father mustered the last of his strength to lock up his son before he succumbed to the vast amount of blood he lost.

The measure did little to end the horror, though, as the vampire died only to revive again. The dark son then broke free and continued his reign. However, he became obsessed with locating the little girl, the only one to have ever slipped through his grasp.

It took the vampire eighteen years before he located her, discovering she was living with her sister near Lake Fujimi. He swore to make this girl, Akiko Kashigawi, his bride as he traveled to the area and began to turn her friends and family against her. The first to fall victim was Kyusaka, a handyman. The dark son twisted the kind man to his will, and had Kyusaka kill Akiko's dog and bring his future bride to him. It was a lost attempt, though, as a group of travelers arrived in the area, ruining the dark son's plans as he and Kyusaka fled after being scared by the headlights on their car.

His efforts to capture the girl were just beginning, though, as he quickly traveled to the girl's house while she was still away. Once there, he located Natsuko, Akiko's younger sister, and drew her blood in order to enlist another to his cause. Casting the sisters against one another, he had Natsuko send Saeki Takashi, Akiko's boyfriend, away in his car, as Kyusaka hid in the backseat. Fortunately, the handyman failed to kill Akiko's boyfriend, and died in the process due to a stray bolt of lightning.

In the mean time, Natsuko and the dark son had Akiko trapped in her house. The vampire admired one of her paintings of a yellow eye, his eye, that she drew as part of her traumatic experience as a child. He then proceeded to hunt the girl in her own residence, and was about ready to bite her when Saeki appeared. The vampire then quickly fled, while Natsuko is on death's bed. She is taken to the nearby hospital, but is already declared dead. The sister's death is temporary, though, as she soon revives as a vampire. Biting a nearby nurse, Natsuko then escapes as she heads for her master's lair.

Meanwhile, Akiko and Saeki venture to the girl's hometown, following the same path she did as a child until they arrive at the foreigner's mansion. Once inside, they locate the vampire's father, who is in a state of decay while he rests in a chair. The pair then read his journal, learning of the family's cursed descendants, before the dark son emerges.

Saeki attempts to attack the undead fiend, but is easily tossed aside by the vampire as, nearby in a coffin, Natsuko awakes. Panicking, Akiko and Saeki try to flee, only to have the vampire burst through a stain glass window ahead of them, cutting off their retreat. Saeki engages the vampire again, but is no match. As the dark son is ready to finish Akiko's boyfriend off, the vampire's father, kept alive due to his son's bite, grabs his child's foot. This causes the vampire to lose his balance, running into and breaking through the railing as he falls down to the story below. As fate would have it, the vampire lands directly on a large spike, piercing his heart and killing the fiend. Crying out, the vampire begins to quickly decay, ending his family's cursed legacy once and for all.

• Portrayed by actor Shin Kishida. Kishida was selected for the role as he was a friend of the director, Michio Yamamoto, whose face reminded him of dracula. Cited in Monsters Are Attacking Tokyo (ISBN: 0922915474).
• While the international title for the movie, Lake of Dracula (1971), might allude to the character being Dracula himself, there is no indication that this is the case. That said, the Vampire in the film does evoke the name once, using shipping information to deliver his coffin that says: "From Dracula via Nishihara Transport".
• The 2005 publication Godzilla: Toho Giant Monster Picture Encyclopedia (ISBN: 4092800525) lists an English name of "Vampire" for the undead being.
• Masumi Okada and Mickey Curtis were originally considered for the role of the lead vampire before the part went to Shin Kishida. This information found in Age of the Gods (self-published).
• Actor Shin Kishida wore stilts in the film to make him appear taller in the role. Noted in Monsters Are Attacking Tokyo (ISBN: 0922915474).
• It is unknown if the vampire had a weakness to sunlight, as is normal in most vampire tales. The being is first encountered in the day time, but is never seen in a manner that exposes it to direct sunlight. The creature also sleeps in a coffin during the day.